This summer, we picked up a deck of Uno, and ever since we’ve turned out our regular x-box playing kids into card-game fanatics. It could be worse, but it’s been an interesting transition as we go from kids who watch Netflix all day, to kids who just want to play games all game.
My youngest is 4 years old, and she’s smart & savvy, but not always able to keep up with my 6 year old. My 6 year old likely has ADHD, and we struggle with the concept of loosing and remembering to put away the games. Generally, we have a few games that everyone loves to play – and we rope in dad to do that.
Games we tried, but hated
Before we get too far into the amazingness of playing board games with 6 year olds, I thought we’d quickly cover the section where we tried a few games and it just turned into not working.
- Operation – we lost all the pieces.
- Guess Who – identifying features thing, the kids couldn’t grasp the concept.
- Labrynth – they just didn’t seem to grasp the concept or rules.
Also, do not buy Snakes & Ladders. You might have fond memories of it being a game you learnt in childhood, but it’s absolutely brutal to play with kids and I would rather burn it.
My kids would say they LOVE TO PLAY the game of SORRY… but that’s a lie, we never finish getting anyone home before they abandon the game. It’s like they kind of want to play it but it’s too long and drawn out for them to actually enjoy the game.
Buy the game with the nice case
Sometimes I’ll buy the cheapest version possible… and it’s always a regret. Buy the nice cases, buy the higher quality version if you can afford it. They just don’t build board games like they used to, and I find that many of the games I enjoyed as a kid are sub-par in manufacturing.
For example, we have kerplunk at my moms house. and it’s a beautiful well-aged game, but the version I picked up at the local toy store is kinda cheap and finicky. I’m little bit disappointed in the quality of games that are being produced by manufactures.
Chess
Yes, that’s right. My 6 year old loves to play Chess. He loves it so much that we ended up installing an app on a tablet so that we could get a break from playing chess – and the app was wonderful because it reinforced a few rules for him about the game.
We bought this giant chess board from a antique shop downtown, and it’s the house favourite. This 6 year old could play chess every day if someone would play with him.
Checkers was a solid option in this house, and especially popular with the 4 year old. We just lost all the pieces. That is proving to be the hardest part about board games with kids. Cardboard boxes without containers to hold all the pieces, mixed with an aloof parent who is terrible at remembering to put away board games. This past weekend we converted the cupboard into a boardgames cupboard and have had better luck with putting away the games.
Card Games – Uno
Uno, a twist on Crazy 8’s and arguably better than Crazy 8’s is a must-have introductory card game. We have thoroughly enjoyed playing this game. This was fantastic to play on the ferry, with large groups, small groups, and we are devastated we’ve yet to find the deck since coming back from our trip this summer.
Uno introduced us to a few other card games that we’ve come to enjoy including Old Maid, trying to teach the kids solitaire, and this Pac Man card game we discovered at our local game store.
Four In a Row
Classic game – four in a row is is great for if you have two kids because they can just play it themselves quietly, and you’ll be surprised how savvy they are at this.
Spot It
This is a like an eye spy game, and I picked it up because it was on the end cap and looked interesting. Turns out they have it at after school care, and it’s actually super fun. The object is to find the one matching pair on a set of two cards. First person to call it, gets the card. So it’s kinda like a dueling war game. I definitely recommend adding Spot It to your collection.
Kerplunk
Kerplunk is one of my favourite games from my childhood, and definitely felt it was a worthy addition, but we are starting to loose track of the having all the pieces … like sticks and marbles. I absolutely adore it and slowly trying to convince my kids we also need to own it.
More Board Games to Explore
We are ready to embrace a winter of even more board games in my desperate plea to convince my kids to spend less time on their video game consoles.
- The Game of Life
- Scrabble Junior
Leave a recommendation below, if you have a 4-6 year old kid fascinated in games.
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